CENTER VALLEY, Pa. - The 13th-ranked Haverford College men's cross country team punched its ticket to a 29th consecutive national championships appearance, with a dominating performance at the NCAA Metro Region Championship title race at DeSales University on Saturday afternoon. The win was Haverford's 25th regional title, and the second in as many seasons in the Metro region, which was established prior to the 2021 season.
Haverford scored an extremely strong 21 points, the program's best-ever tally at a regional meet, a mark that was well clear of second-place Swarthmore who finished with 74 and Moravian who crossed with 87 points for a third place finish. Haverford's spread was just 25 seconds as the Fords placed six runners in the top 35, including all five scorers within the top seven overall finishers. By virtue of those standout performances on Saturday, six Haverford runners will pick up All-Region certificates from the USTFCCCA.
Senior Ryan Kredell followed his Centennial Conference Championship two weeks ago with the title in the regional meet, crossing in 25:23. The individual regional crown was the first for Haverford since Graham Peet took home the Mideast Region title after the 2017 season and the 13th in program history. Kredell adds to his already impressive group of accolades this season, which already include a Centennial Conference Runner of the Year selection and Centennial Conference Individual Championship. The Geneva, Illinois product is the first Haverford runner since Charlie Marquardt in 2015 to capture both the conference and regional individual titles.
Following Kredell in 25:25 was regional runner-up Aaron Bratt. The senior was in contention for the individual title all race long, at the very top of the pack with Kredell and senior Jamie Moreland in 25:25. Bratt, who finished as an All-Conference second-teamer, was the race-leader through the first two splits as the Haverford duo was clear of Swarthmore's Aidan Cantine. Moreland stepped up to a fifth-place finish overall, crossing in 25:40, while Peter Buckley was another senior in the top seven (25:44).
Junior Nathaniel Leighninger looked poised as he stepped up from his 23rd place finish at the Conference meet and logged a seventh-place overall finish (25:47) while senior Nico Tripeny (26:11) was the 11th place finisher overall. Sophomore Reza Eshghi competed in his first NCAA regional championship, with a 55th-place overall finish. Buckley and Kredell are now three-time All-Region selections while Tripeny picked up his second All-Region designation.
The Fords will now be back in action at the NCAA Division III Championships on Saturday, November 19 at Forest Akers Golf Course in Lansing, Michigan and the campus of Michigan State University. The men's 8K national championship is slated to begin at 12 p.m.